Dear Septa:

Seriously? All the trains are down? Oh, and that two-hour leeway period I planned is slowly slowly fading away? Great. Fantastic! I really do love being reliant on the rails.

It all worked out in the end, thank the stars I left myself plenty of time.

Leave the house at 6:30. Catch a 7:09 train. Relax with my book, listen to music. Train seems stopped longer than usual. Conductor doesn’t know whats going on. Train still stopped. I’m not too worried, I know I have extra time. Train still stopped. Everyone gets off to catch a bus transfer to Trenton. Bus drives by. Train blows its whistle- everyone back on! “We’ll get moving, sometime, I think.” Hmmm… that’s reassuring. Get moving, arrive in Trenton. NJTransit train soon to arrive. Mental calculations, my two hour buffer has dwindled to a mere 20 minutes, if this new train has no problems. I was planning on taking the subway to my interview- but thought a taxi would eliminate the waiting-for-the-next-train anxiety. Taxi driver says it will be 15 to 20 minutes. No buffer left. Call the office, let them know I’m running late. Taxi drops me off, five minutes to spare! But alas! 3 blocks away! 42nd street does not equal 45th street. Shouldn’t have tipped him. This is why I don’t take cabs. Ask a kindly gentleman which direction 42nd is…. and run the remaining 3 blocks, tottering in my heels. Arrive breathless, a few minutes after 11.

Hell, at least it was a conversation piece, and I managed to catch my breath somewhere between the elevator ride and the first few minutes of interview. Ug. This is why I am perpetually early- always prepare for the worst.

2 Responses to “Dear Septa:”

This is exactly what happened to me when I went from Philly to NY for the first interview for my job at Snippies. The only difference was that I tried to drive to the Princeton Junction NJT stop, got lost in the car on the way, got on a later train than intended, and THEN the train broke down on the way. I somehow managed to get that job though, so good luck to you too.